Question

Plowing the land was a long-used metadata, but in modernity it is not used anymore, it is also no longer recommended. The land is plowed by a plow, which makes furrows in the soil and turns to the top, leaving it soft and exposed.

A) What is this method used for?

B) What risk does it bring to the fertile soil?

Answer 1

A) Tilling the land aims to unpack the soil, facilitating an adequate development of the roots, aiding in the proliferation of earthworms, as well as removing weeds and materials that hinder the growth of the plantation. This is especially interesting in temperate regions, due to snow and low intensity rains, allowing a greater incorporation of the organic matter to the soil, increasing the fertility of the earth.


In the attached images you will see the techniques of plowing through the force of animals and tractor, in addition to situations where there was erosion, so that the rain took part of the soil.

B) The big problem is that this European technique is not adequate to the tropical and subtropical climates, predominant in Brazil. This is because the result may have undesired consequences, such as the death of microorganisms that live on the ground due to exposure to the sun, as well as the loss of moisture. These microorganisms are important in aiding the decomposition, which allows plants to take advantage of nutrients. Another major risk due to heavy and intense rains, which occur in tropical and subtropical climates, is erosion, which consists of the rainwater phenomenon leading to the fertile soil layer.

In this way, the current orientation is to move the soil as little as possible, searching for no-till, since heat and humidity intensify the rate of degradation of organic matter, and there is no need to plow.

Good studies!